BEIJING May 25 (Reuters) - The decline in China's power
output accelerated in the first 10 days of May to 3.9 percent
from a year earlier, the influential Caijing Magazine reported on
Monday, providing the latest evidence that the Chinese economic
recovery still lacks a solid footing.

The drop was 0.7 percentage points larger than the decline
for the last 10 days of April, it said, citing data from the
National Electricity Dispatching and Communication Centre, a unit
of the State Grid.

Nationwide electricity consumption via major grids had fallen
4.3 percent in the first 10 days of May, also 0.7 percentage
points sharper than that for the last 10 days of April, it said,
confirming earlier local media reports.
The power data is considered by some as more of a leading
indicator than manufacturing and export data.

But some analysts cautioned that power use was closely linked
to heavy industry and thus not representative of the broader
manufacturing sector.
China's power output in April fell 3.5 percent from a year
earlier, the sixth decline since October, as activity in the
world's third-largest economy slowed from the impact of the
global financial crisis.
(Reporting by Eadie Chen and Tom Miles; Editing by Jacqueline
Wong)
(eadie.chen@reuters.com; +8610 6627 1268; Reuters Messaging:
eadie.chen.reuters.com@reuters.net))